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Engineers fear that other cables may also break at any time, making any repair attempt excessively dangerous.
The telescope is one of the largest in the world and has been a key instrument for many astronomical discoveries.
The foundation “prioritizes the safety of workers, Arecibo Observatory staff and visitors, which necessitates this decision, albeit unfortunate,” said NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan.
Messages of sadness at the news have been spread on Twitter by both professional and amateur astronomers who for decades have used the telescope for their work in observing the cosmos.
“More than a telescope, Arecibo is why I also like astronomy,” local astronomer Kevin Ortiz Ceballos tweeted.
Karen Masters, a professor of astrophysics at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, posted a photo of herself and her young daughter near the antenna in 2008 and said she was “heartbroken and disappointed.”
An action scene from the James Bond film “GoldenEye” takes place above the telescope, and in the film “Contact” an astronomer played by Jodie Foster uses the observatory in her search for extraterrestrial signals.
The engineering firm that examined the structure concluded that the remaining cables were perhaps weaker than expected and recommended a controlled demolition, which the foundation accepted.
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